Oatly is a Swedish company founded in the 1990’s, which creates alternative Dairy products from oats. The products are nutrient dense and don’t taste like shit. I discovered Oat Milk through my mom, who loves finding weird Eco-products. I’ve been lactose intolerant for as long as I can remember, and have dealt with the consequences by saying “oops” and moving on. Oat Milk changed that.
Oat milk is one of the fastest growing food trends in the world right now with a search volume that has grown over 1200% in the last five years. Their Oat Milk product is the most notable alternative to diary. The company is notable for its product but also for its creative team, which has pushed the envelop as to what is acceptable. This has created a business valued at $2 billion, with a potential IPO coming within the next few years. Oatly has an incredible opportunity to grow, since the last decade has seen milk sales decline by $3 Billion. About 1.6% of consumers are drinking oat milk products. Between 2018 and 2019 Oat Milk sales increased by 555%. So the milk market is shrinking and one alternative to milk grew five times over; the growth in Oat Milk is ridiculous.
Companies like Beyond Meat & Oatly create products that are less resource intensive alternatives to meat & dairy products. Globally livestock release about 15% of Greenhouse Gas emission, which affect climate change. The production of a 200 mL glass of cows milk emits 0.6 kg of carbon emissions, requires 1.5 square miles of land and requires about 120 liters of water. Compare this to a 200 mL glass of Oat milk, which requires half the land, produces half the emissions & only requires 5 liters of water. For comparison, a 200 mL glass of almond milk requires about 74 liters of water. The environmental cost of producing Oat Milk is lower and Oatly has claimed that it is still higher than it could be. Their production efficiency will improve the more Oat products they make. Oatly has an annual sustainability report.
Companies like Beyond Meat & Oatly create products that are less resource intensive alternatives to meat & dairy products. Globally livestock release about 15% of Greenhouse Gas emission, which affect climate change. The production of a 200 mL glass of cows milk emits 0.6 kg of carbon emissions, requires 1.5 square miles of land and requires about 120 liters of water. Compare this to a 200 mL glass of Oat milk, which requires half the land, produces half the emissions & only requires 5 liters of water. For comparison, a 200 mL glass of almond milk requires about 74 liters of water. The environmental cost of producing Oat Milk is lower and Oatly has claimed that it is still higher than it could be. Their production efficiency will improve the more Oat products they make. Oatly has an annual sustainability report that details how they make improvements and why you should care.
Oatly’s identity is fearless and captivates their customers through that. Everything the company does is a statement; even the packaging is unique and hand drawn. Oatly is creating a product that is making the world better and are outspoken about it. “Our sole purpose as a company is to make it easy for people to turn what they eat and drink into personal moments of healthy joy without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources in the process.” Their actions back that statement up. They’ve grabbed the masses with their outsider appeal and created a cult following. The Swedish dairy lobby sued Oatly for their billboards that said, “Milk, but made for humans.” They rebelled publishing the 174 page lawsuit and boosted their own sales. They seized an opportunity to turn a loss into a massive win. Instead of a classic marketing department they have a “Department of Mind Control.” CEO Toni Petersson did this advertisement for them, demonstrating top down cooperation. Oatly has its own authentic voice, and refuses the status quo any influence on how they operate.
When the company entered the US, they faced a massive challenge; No one knew about Oat Milk, and comparable products (Soy & Rice Milk) suck. To get around this problem they crafted the best experience around the product. This began with local coffee shops, which pride themselves on making the best morning beverages. By releasing in coffee shops first they set their product up for success. They designed a version of the product for baristas and responded like milk. Oatly knew they had a unconventional product, so they changed the context of its use. They introduced customers to a new way of drinking coffee and grew a cult following. Since Oatly was only available in coffee shops, they could leverage fear of missing out. This created massive shortages of their product. They had to scale new factories far quicker than they had expected. The growth this company has gone through over the last two years has been remarkable.
Oatly is an awesome company that sells a good family of products. They’ve leveraged issues around incumbents, their identity and creative strategy to make a great brand. The major lesson to take from their success is that your voice will take you further than a product. People smell bullshit from miles away, voice is the only thing that keeps you from starting to reek.
Try supplementing your dairy with oat milk for a week, it’s better for the environment and your body. Most human stomachs aren’t meant to digest lactose. A good place to start is with your coffee creamer. Who knows, you might feel better. Let me know how it went and send me an email. If you enjoyed this article get all my articles in one email per week.